With only one win in the first month of regular season play, the Dallas Wings are making some changes.
The Wings have acquired centre Li Yueru from the Seattle Storm in exchange for a 2026 second round pick and a 2027 third round pick, the team announced on Saturday.
The 2026 pick includes the right to swap with the Connecticut Sun and the 2027 pick includes the right to swap with the Indiana Fever.
Yueru averaged 2.8 points and 1.6 rebounds over 8.7 minutes in nine games with the Storm this season. She joined Seattle in the off-season following a three-team trade with the Los Angeles Sparks and Las Vegas Aces.
Two weeks ago, iHeart Women’s Sports reported that Yueru’s representatives told the Storm she wanted to be traded. The team made good on that request by moving Yueru to Dallas, which was in need of a centre.
Yueru was picked in the third round of the 2019 draft, No. 35 overall, by the Atlanta Dream. The 26-year-old is an international player from China and brings size and experience to the struggling Wings. This season, she's shot 50 per cent from the three-point line and almost 92 per cent from the free throw line.
The Wings are currently without centres Teaira McCowan and Luisa Geiselsoder, who are both away because of national team obligations. Guard/forward Kaila Charles, who had averaged 4.9 points and 3.5 rebounds in 11 games, was waived Saturday.
Despite big off-season signings like DiJonai Carrington and Tyasha Harris, and the 2025 No.1 pick in Paige Bueckers, the Wings have struggled with a 1-11 record. Big performances, like Bueckers' career high 35-point game against the Phoenix Mercury, are still not enough to earn the Wings more than one game in the win column. A new addition like Yueru offers the chance to shake up what hasn't been working.
--With files from the Associated Press
